Assessing the impact of Oneida County job cuts

Sunday

In a little more than a month, Oneida County will lose more than 8 percent of its workforce – a move made in an effort to balance the county’s 2011 budget.

All told, by Jan. 1, 2011, the county will be down 140 of its more than 1,600 positions — leading to a savings of more than $5 million. About half the cuts will come from layoffs. The other half will come from deleting empty positions, many of which were vacated by recent retirees.

In a little more than a month, Oneida County will lose more than 8 percent of its workforce – a move made in an effort to balance the county’s 2011 budget.

All told, by Jan. 1, 2011, the county will be down 140 of its more than 1,600 positions — leading to a savings of more than $5 million. About half the cuts will come from layoffs. The other half will come from deleting empty positions, many of which were vacated by recent retirees.

For county employees, that means the coming weeks will be filled with questions outlining exactly who will be sent packing.

And for county residents, it could mean getting prepared for everything from longer lines at the Department of Motor Vehicles to a longer wait when applying for public assistance.

“We have to be like other places that are doing more with less,” Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente said. “We’re losing a significant amount of employees, and we still have to provide services. I know people won’t be pleased with the results, but it’s the reality of the situation.”

Some departments were struck worse than others.

* Various divisions of Social Services took the hardest hit with temporary assistance losing 11 percent of its 124 workers and Medicaid administration losing 9.5 percent of its 74 employees. Another 11 percent of the department’s 110 administrative employees also was cut.

* The building and grounds unit – which operates under the Department of Public Works – will lose about 44 percent of its 39 workers, who primarily act as the cleaning staff for county buildings. Picente said those cuts were made because he believes the county can solicit bids for an outside vendor that would do the work at a lower cost.

“This came down to a conscious decision about operations, and a hard look at where the funding is coming from,” Picente said. “Some of our smaller departments are 100 percent reimbursed. You tend to leave those alone.”

None of the three employees in the county’s breast health partnership program and none of the three employees in the emergency preparedness program were cut. Both of those programs receive state backing.

‘An obligation |to provide services’

Sheriff-elect Robert Maciol, who will take over for Daniel Middaugh in January, said he has concerns about the staffing cuts, particularly because he’ll be inheriting the department without having had any input on the changes.

The Sheriff’s Office will lose eight of the 69 deputies on road patrol and nine of the 256 positions assigned to the jail. The cuts will almost certainly mean restructuring the department and reassigning tasks, he said.

“Regarding the correctional facility, there are minimum staffing requirements set by the state,” Maciol said. “I want to take a look at just how close to those requirements we are. Regardless, we have an obligation to provide services, and I’m confident we’ll be able to do that.”

Probation Director David Tomidy said the six cuts in the main office of probation and two cuts to specialized probation programs will certainly have an effect on the department.

Many officers currently have a specialty, allowing them familiarity with certain types of cases. That will likely change, and officers will become more generalized, Tomidy said.

“We’ll have to do things a lot differently, but we are not going to compromise officer safety,” Tomidy said.

Process

While county department heads are aware of which positions have been cut, just who will be without a job come January is yet to be decided.

Workers in the majority of the eliminated positions might be eligible to exercise employment rights through civil service law or union contracts.

For example, because of seniority, some employees might be able to move into lower-level – and lower-paying – positions, thus leaving other co-workers without jobs.

Personnel Commissioner John Talerico said he’s begun meeting with employees to explain their options and issue deadlines for them to make decisions about moving into other positions.

The system is fairly straightforward in small departments. But for large departments such as Social Services, the process is complex. One change can affect an entire line of seniority, Talerico said.

That process is set to be completed no later than Dec. 16. Affected employees then will be given two-weeks notice, and departments will have that time to make final decisions about how resources will be allocated.

County Environmental Health Director Daniel Gilmore knows his department will lose three of 17 positions. Yet, getting into the specifics of how the department will function is difficult, he said.

“To say what we would do is premature,” Gilmore said. “We realize this is coming, but until we know who we’re losing I just can’t say what will happen.”

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